


where i (you) belong

by goldavn



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Dark, M/M, Original Character(s), Wanna One Ensemble - Freeform, beware there is blood, character death - you have been warned, dove! seongwu, ghoul! daniel, mild fight scenes, side sungwoon and minhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-19 21:15:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16542383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldavn/pseuds/goldavn
Summary: seongwu is a human turned ghoul turned dove (ghoul investigator) and daniel is a human turned ghoul. seongwu had been turned on his will while daniel was experimented on; though neither seemed to fit in their worlds. along the endless chase to fit in, they realize that only they understand each other.





	where i (you) belong

**Author's Note:**

> a couple of things that can act as a disclaimer before we begin;
> 
> \- firstly, take characterisations as a grain of salt. i have incorporated parts of what we see from ongniel irl and i have also added my own aspects to them that work alongside their arcs in this fic. i am extremely open to feedback and i would really appreicate it and take not for the future with what works and what doesn't from your comments to further grow my writing style.
> 
> \- i have not stuck 100% to the tokyo ghoul lore, therefore there are a few tidbits that might tickle your feathers BUT nothing that majorly and doesn't sit well against the original lore.
> 
> \- prompter asked for character death, specifically in their prompter notes they wrote - "who will you save?" so buckle up for a wild ride
> 
> \- unbeta'd so im really sorry for any errors i haven't picked up on
> 
> \- lastly, i need to say a big thanks and appreciation to two friends, [jess](https://twitter.com/slackeuse) and [jo,](https://twitter.com/7x7cms) who helped me through a very difficult decision regarding this piece. i struggled with how to piece certain things or characters together and with what would work and what would not, and without you two i would have been stumped for days over what to do as i agonized over the future of this fic and worried i would back out of the prompt because of my worries. you know who you are, and without revealing my identity i want to thank you both here again, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
> 
> let's begin! ♡

_❝all we can do is live as we endure loss.❞_

\- yomo, tokyo ghoul

 

♘

 

To this day Daniel can still remember, feel, _relive_ the day that his life was turned upside down – the day his soul was unwillingly ripped away from him.

It was a winters night and Daniel wanted nothing more than to feel the water droplets drip against his skin as he took an evening skate with his brand-new skateboard. In many ways, he was your usual twenty-two-year-old who loved nothing more than a taste of freedom whenever he was offered the chance. So, when the day is over and he comes home from work he goes out on his skateboard regardless of whatever the weather forecast might be. He needed the chance to drown his emotions in the wind, rain, or sun rather than resort to drugs like his co-workers.

He was taking his usual route when he rolled his skateboard over a pebble which caused the board to shoot out from under him. He fell to the ground and grazed his knees on the wet pavement.

“Ah fuck,” he had hissed in pain. He could see the blood from his knees melting into the pavement and he had to look away from the sight – blood made him queasy. When he was finally able to pry himself from the ground he felt a hand on his shoulder which he immediately spun around to. A young man, perhaps a year or two younger than him had a hand on his shoulder and bending forward to help Daniel up off the ground.

“Need some help?” the young man asked, and Daniel could swear this man’s eyes were unreal – too beautiful for this world. He raised his left arm to grab a hold of the young man’s shoulder in order to help him peel his body weight upwards.

“Thank you,” Daniel panted as he finally was back on his own two feet. The young man points towards his skateboard.

“Bit rainy for a skate, don’t you think?” he says, teasing tone aching through the air between them. Daniel swears he isn’t like this but this young man is hypnotising, and it sends a tingle down his spine.

“I guess, but not really for me.” The young man looks at him inquisitively before holding his hand out.

“I’m Ahnjong.”

He keeps his hand held out until Daniel meets it with his own, “I’m Daniel." 

Without warning Ahnjong pulls him closer with such force and speed Daniel doesn’t understand what is happening. He feels hot breath against his neck and a wetness clasping over the junction between his collarbone and shoulders. He tries to pull away from Ahnjong but he feels something sharp penetrate through the skin on his neck and a wave of pins and needles that turn into a fiery sensation within seconds follows. His world is spinning, white is the only colour he can see yet still fully aware of the sensations his nerves are sending to his brain.

“Nice to meet you Daniel,” he hears Ahnjong growl, almost sounding manically inhuman. It’s the last thing he can remember before white fades to black and eventually he can hear and feel nothing.

Nothing at all.

 

♘

 

When Daniel comes to, it takes him a few minutes to adjust his vision to the surroundings around him. It seems to be that of a cellar – but a very _clean_ cellar. To the left is what looks similar to those trays nurses and doctors use at the hospital to lay out equipment on, and if Daniel is correct, there is a range of equipment laid out on it already. To the right is a hospital bed, and equipment Daniel can’t recognise but the whole setting is screaming danger. He tries to move but is restrained; he looks down at his wrists and sees that both of them as well as his ankles are bound to the chair he was seated in. He twists his neck to see where the door is and he feels pain shoot through his body from his neck. It’s then that he notices the dried blood caked down his front that he remembers his last moments before waking up here.

_Ahnjong._

Ahnjong did this to him.

Daniel thrashes against the restraints but earns nothing but cuts against his skin from the harshness of his actions. He looks once more for anything that resembles a door but comes up with absolutely nothing.

 _How the fuck did he get in there if there was no door?_  

Behind him, he hears the faint sound of electronics followed by footsteps, and he starts to thrash again. “Now, now Daniel, we wouldn’t want you injuring yourself so soon.”

Ahnjong sounds cruel, teasing him with his endless mocking tones. 

“We are nowhere near the big finale. Wouldn’t want you dying before it’s your time,” Ahnjong chuckles. He is standing in front of Daniel and he wants to vomit from the sight but he can’t because Jihoon’s glamour is too strong – sending him into a strange infatuation with his revolting appearance. His mouth was smeared with blood and big sharp teeth hang over his grinning smile. He’s wearing a white suit that highlights his pastel pink hair – things that Daniel knows he shouldn’t find alluring while he’s facing impending death but something isn’t letting him feel fear right now. Ahnjong squats in front of Daniel and trails his fingers up his calves, thighs, running them smoothly against his ripped pants from the fall. Ahnjong reopens one of the cuts on his knee and lets the blood pool against his finger. He drags the finger to his mouth and sucks lewdly. Daniel wants nothing more than to tear his eyes away but he can’t – he’s in a trance-like state.

“That’s more like it. Can’t tear your eyes away can you,”Ahnjong whispers. Daniel nods his head slowly, feeling the bile rising in his throat. Blood makes him queasy and he can’t begin to describe the feeling of witnessing the very thing that makes him want to throw up usually but at the same time sends a burning desire through his veins.

“We’re going to have lots of fun darling, just you wait.” After all, it was only day one of a sixty-day torture spree until he was freed.

 He had no idea of what Ahnjong had planned.

 

♘

 

Every day was a nightmare. Ahnjong’s glamour eased most of the pain but the moments that he left the room and therefore the glamour dropped were the moments Daniel experienced the most excruciating pain he could ever imagine. Between the feeding and open wounds Daniel just wanted to waste away in the moments Ahnjong was gone. Once a week when Ahnjong came into the room he would inject Daniel with something – Daniel could only see a clear liquid inside of it every time so he had no clue what substance was being forced into his body. And the most fucked up thing of it all? Ahnjong’s glamour caused him to look forward to the ghoul coming back every day, because only when he was in the room was when Daniel could feel relief – all the pain would be stripped away and he’d feel human again.

One day when he was at his worst, almost on the brink of death, Ahnjong graced him with his presence. He could hardly keep his eyes open but from what he can smell, he’s thankful that he can’t see what the putrid smells owner looked like.

He can only feel Ahnjong prop him up in the bed, hands gentle for once – normally the ghoul was more hands on. Daniel can hear him shuffling about, giggling to himself. 

“Daniel?” Ahnjong calls. All Daniel can do is muster a groan in return, and he can soon feel one of Ahnjong’s hands around his neck. 

“Drink,” Ahnjong prompts. Daniel takes the cup that was put into his palm and places it to his lips. He wants to gag yet, unsurprisingly wants to guzzle it down at the same time.

“I said,” Ahnjong hisses, “drink!” 

Ahnjong tips the cup forward and Daniel has no choice but to let the liquid trickle into his throat and on his tongue. It’s bitter for the first few sips until it became sickly sweet and he had downed the cup before he or Ahnjong had a chance to say anything between their breaths.

“Good boy,” Ahnjong whispers, handing him a second cup. Daniel takes it promptly and chugs it back once more, only left with the feeling of wanting more.

_More, more, more._

His vision returns, and he can see Ahnjong grinning at him with the empty cup in his hands. Daniel reaches for it but Jihoon pulls it away and stands from the bed.

“That’s it for today,” Ahnjong says, packing up the jug and disposable cups from a bench. He walks towards the door and Daniel weakly tries to run after him, except he falls flat on the floor. Ahnjong bends down to haul him up, strapping him into the chair in the middle of the room.

“I hope my blood tasted great,” he says, shutting the door behind him.

Daniel feels sick, so sick he might just throw all of it back up. But he can’t, bile and blood stuck in his throat – Ahnjong obviously still outside the door causing his glamour to still take an effect on him. 

For Daniel, it was the beginning of the end, and he could feel it coming.

 

♘

 

After weeks of having Ahnjong’s blood chemically enhanced and injected into his skin, he was finally ready in Ahnjong’s eyes to transform. During the times Ahnjong was in the room with Daniel, he had let his motives slip when he got too into the moment of boasting about the rights and benefits of being a ghoul. Daniel learnt that there was a young man before him who didn’t survive – merely a plaything, a tester of sorts to Ahnjong. But Daniel was different, Ahnjong’s glamour worked on him so well compared to other humans.

One morning Daniel woke up to a blinding light in the room, mechanical beeps surrounding him. He looked at his arm and saw an intravenous drip secured to his vein, finally feeling the sensation of being rolled into place on the bed. Ahnjong leaned over him, a surgical mask tied across his chin.

“Ready, darling?” Ahnjong’s eyes were wild and it was only then that Daniel noticed he had dropped his glamour.

But… why?

And then, it makes sense.

_Fear._

 Ahnjong wants to see the fear in Daniels eyes and his pained screams as he injects the anaesthesia into his body.

“No! No, stop. You can’t do this,” Daniel murmurs, slowly being pulled into sleep.

“Oh, but I can darling. That’s the whole point.”

Seeing stars is becoming a common theme in Daniel’s life these past fifty days, and it was only going to get worse. The end was near and Jihoon was ready to complete the process of turning Daniel into one of him – his own modified ghoul.

 

♘

 

The following days were excruciating to make sure the surgery had been successful, Ahnjong had deprived Daniel of any blood and it showed when Daniel could break free of the restraints and break through the first of seven layers of materials and glass that made up the wall of the room.

Daniel felt strange, he had energy flowing through his veins that he’s never felt and it felt wild – feral. When he broke through the first layer of the wall, a see-through layer of bulletproof glass was the second he met. He could see his reflection in the glass and he was horrified to see his left eye glowing red, the once white of his eye pitch black. It causes him to stumble backwards, and fall over the rubble of the first wall. He shrieks in disbelief and when he touches his eye he can keep contact with it for no more than a few seconds because it makes him petrified of the emotions that it is making him feel. Fury, despair, a lust for _blood_ … all of them rolling in and out of his system one after the other on repeat. He mustered all of the anger rolling through his veins into bashing against the second layer of glass, completely immersed, so much so he doesn’t hear the door sliding open from behind him. A sharp stab is felt through his neck from the needle Ahnjong inserts, letting the sedative get deep into the new ghoul’s veins 

“Daniel, this isn’t the way to treat the person who gave you this power…” Ahnjong drawls, eyes wild as Daniel tries to struggle free from Jihoon and the will of sleep from the sedative.

 “You’re the best of them all but I can’t let you behave like this. Have some sleep,” Ahnjong says, Daniels vision fading out as the sedative does its job.

 

When Daniel comes to, he notices a significant change in air – something potent could be smelled from every corner of the room. Something was off and Daniel couldn’t shake then feeling from his mind. He went to the door, pressed his ear against and tries to hear anything from the other side. He can only make out faint scuffling, followed by a loud shriek. Daniel stumbles backwards as a sharp pain throbs through his eye, and he can’t bear the pain. When the shrieking outside subsides, so does Daniel’s eye and he can’t even be happy with the relief from the worry about what was beyond the doors.

He backs up underneath the bed just in time for the door to swing open, a mysterious pair of legs strutting into the room. Daniel can make out what seems like a tail, though it is glowing orange – a sight Daniel was yet to see throughout his years. The tail and legs come closer to Daniel’s bed and bends down to his level. The owner of the legs had wild eyes just like Ahnjong and Daniel, although everything about him glowed with an orange and yellow aura. He didn’t feel dangerous, if Daniel looked past what seemed to be the remnants of his captor in his shoes.

“Need a hand?”

 

♘

 

“Hey Seongwu, any updates on that rascal Ahnjong?” Seongwu’s partner Sungwoon asks as he takes his place at the desk next to his own. They were Dove’s – ghoul’s that investigated ghoul’s and were renowned for their unforgiving actions against those ghouls that broke the laws. However, it was somewhat widely known that Seongwu was never as unforgiving as the others – he was even a soft touch from time to time.

Seongwu shakes his head solemnly, “the past few weeks there has been no reported sightings.”

“Perhaps he finally bit the dust,” Sungwoon mutters.

“Thinks he can create the perfect ghoul… that bastard needs to stop,” he adds, angered by the fact that they hadn’t caught him yet. Ahnjong was a ghoul that had been notorious for not only the murder of humans in plain sight but also for reports of illegal experimenting on both human’s and ghouls alike. Sungwoon and Seongwu had been trying their best to find out any possible locations and to scout them out but they’d had no such luck. Ahnjong was practically a ghost, as were those who were unlucky enough to meet his peril. Seongwu had found out that the ghoul had a hard life before his ghoul life – raised to follow the rules set by his parents and confining him to their expectations. After he became a ghoul, those feelings of resent and conditioning stayed present in his actions and was said to be one of the key factors in his own justification of experimentation. Seongwu thinks there is only so much pity he can feel until he sits back and judges it from an outsider view – if he wasn’t a dove. He’d be sickened by Ahnjong’s act and would try his best to give the investigators any knowledge he had to help them catch him.

It’s where his and Sungwoon’s views and personalities clash occasionally; where Sungwoon absolutely hated and resented any reportedly reckless and immoral ghoul, Seongwu had an irresistible need to figure out what it was that drove these ghouls to act in such a manner. After all, him and Sungwoon were both ghouls themselves but still acted like any other moral human, and no-one would ever guess they were on unless they had taken form in front of them.

Seongwu could never explicitly tell Sungwoon these feelings, but it could be felt in the air between them that he felt that way which leads to occasional tension in certain cases and confrontations. But Seongwu could never stay angry at him, nor could Sungwoon stay angry at him – after all he was the one that turned him into a ghoul. Seongwu had become deeply sick as a human, and Sungwoon had come across him when strolling the hospital wards on a case one time. He’d taken one look at Seongwu and saw a younger version of himself instantaneously and could not move from the window that overlooked his room.

 _“I don’t want to die,” Seongwu could manage to stutter, even talking was taking all of the energy out of him. Sungwoon had leant over and attached the IV line from the bag into the vein on his wrist, letting his blood flow through the line and into Seongwu’s body through the vein in his hand._

_“Trust me, I won’t let it happen.”_

Seongwu had been forever grateful for his second chance at life, even if it was a ghoul and as a dove but it didn’t take away the feeling of loneliness and longing to fit in with a world that just didn’t match nor want to welcome him with two warm arms. He could tell this life wasn’t for him, and that with a twisted turn of fate it happened to be the way things would turn out. He doesn’t resent Sungwoon, but he can’t help but feel that it would have been better if he had never seen Seongwu in the hospital that day. Ever since, Seongwu hadn’t seen his family – they believe that he died after Sungwoon posed as a doctor at the hospital. Part of the reason he never returned to them were from being too afraid of eating them, and part of it being Sungwoon’s orders – and who was he to defy someone who had been a ghoul for far longer than he had.

Aside from the atrocities of the ghoul lifestyle, it still baffles Seongwu that their job is to eliminate parasites to society when he himself is deemed as one also. All he wants to do is find the right middle ground and _survive_ – but even that is hard because of his profession – and he wouldn’t be able to get out of it anytime soon. There’s no telling when a dove would come across one particularly powerful ghoul and have their lives ripped away from them in an instance – it had happened many times before across the different districts.

“We had a couple of reports saying that the fox ghoul is sporting new company,” Sungwoon says over the desk while skimming through a file.

“Minhyun?” Seongwu asks. 

_Strange, he hadn’t had any company since Woojin died…_

Sungwoon nods, “yeah. It’s some tall fellow that our informant has never seen before.”

_Very strange._

“Apparently he was seen near the intersection near the underground tram system… feel like a stakeout?” Sungwoon asks, a confident grin across lips.

Seongwu stands from his desk, and shrugs on his coat – making sure his quinque was concealed.

“Let us go,” Seongwu says, already making his way to the door.

 

♘

 

Daniel was hesitant to take his hand, unaware of what dangers the stranger could hold, yet apprehensively darts his hand out from under the table.

“How long did he keep you here?” the ghoul asks, honey dripping as he speaks. He had such a soft tone that it didn’t make sense to Daniel – how a ghoul could sound… friendly? Caring?

“I lost track…” Daniel replies. The ghoul looks at him with pity in his eyes and his fox-like tail vanished as his eyes returned to normal.

“Well, you no longer have to worry about him.” The ghoul gestures behind him and furthermore to his shoes. He turns and starts to walk towards the door when he pauses, turning to look back for Daniel. 

“Do you have anywhere to go?”

Daniel solemnly shakes his head. It would be impossible to go back to his family like this, and he couldn’t put them through the trauma of seeing there soon becoming one of the parasites they wish to eliminate no matter the cause.

“Join me, I can help you for a while." 

Daniel looks at him dubiously, and despite their current surroundings, the ghoul manages to let a chuckle leave his throat.

“I’m not like him. He… stole… something that was once mine,” the ghoul reminisces, looking around the baron, hospital-esque room. Daniel wonders, and he knows he shouldn’t ask, but he does anyway.

“Was he like me?”

The ghoul nods his head.

“I’m Minhyun, by the way.” The ghoul says as he swishes his hand for Daniel to follow him.

“And your name?”

“Oh. I’m Daniel,” Minhyun smiles. 

“Daniel… I like that name,” he says, the same reminiscent smile on his lips – as though reliving memories or feelings from the past.

“Are you sure you want to take me with you?” Daniel asks, not once had his eyes returned to their normal state, still glowing black and red.

“You have nowhere else.”

And it was true.

He didn’t.

 

♘

 

 

Seongwu was sat in the car with Sungwoon, boredom setting in as his eyes scanned the street back and forth for any sign of Minhyun and his new company. It had been two hours with nothing and he was ready to give up when Sungwoon bolts up in the seat next to him.

“Look there!” Sungwoon whispers aggressively and points his finger in the direction of the long alleyway. There Minhyun stood with what seemed to be a human leaned up against the concrete wall, and a red head ghoul stood next to him. The ghoul caught eyes with Seongwu for only a split second, lucky for him that he didn’t recognize a dove like most other ghouls could. But, Seongwu was taken back by the beauty that the ghoul held in his eyes. They were raging, like he had no control, yet his presence was nothing like a usual ghoul – he was apprehensive despite the free meal Minhyun had placed in front of them. A mere few seconds later and the ghoul had collapsed to the ground, what Seongwu could make out as sobbing uncontrollably as Minhyun was visibly yelling.

“Hyung wait a second,” Seongwu places a hand on Sungwoon’s chest, stopping him from opening the car door. Minhyun is holding the human in his hands, irritated and yelling. His eyes are glowing, and the fox tail is growing as he seems to yell at the red head.

_“If you’re in so much pain, eat! Eat god damnit!”_

_“Just fucking eat! You’re a ghoul now this is what you have to do!”_

_“Get up!”_

_“Daniel, eat!”_

_Daniel…_

“Shouldn’t we intervene? Get them both?” Sungwoon questions, gobsmacked by what was unfolding in front of them.

“Hyung, the red head is refusing to eat.”

Sungwoon watches intently, at the two arguing and the red head, Daniel furiously shaking his head.

“I think you’re right-“

A loud crash sends them speeding out of their seats in the car as something large lands on the windshield. Minhyun was lying on the shattered glass, anger and frustration emitting into the air. He completely ignores the two doves next to him, and Seongwu truly thinks the ghoul hasn’t taken any notice. His sight was fixed on the red head as he charges into the air, sending a flying kick to the red heads stomach. Any human would be dead from the impact, as it sent Daniel flying up against the concrete wall. Daniel was trying not to fight back but his strength appeared to be too much for him to handle – he didn’t know how to control the rage and ghoulish side to him.

Sungwoon is quick to follow him up into the air with his quinque in hand, ignoring Seongwu’s calls to stop. This wasn’t their fight, they could deal with Minhyun later but right now the ghouls needed to sort whatever it was out with as little damage done to the public or each other as possible. But Sungwoon doesn’t listen, landing a slash across Minhyun’s tail. He flails through the air and lands with a crash a few steps before Daniel who was still slumped against the concrete. Seongwu could feel the fear projected in the reds of his eyes and he couldn’t let Sungwoon kill them both – not when they don’t know what or who the red head is. Seongwu jumps forward, his own quinque now out from his trench coat pocket, shielding a blow to Minhyun.

“Hyung!” Seongwu yells as Sungwoon flails his quinque forward, turning the blade back on Seongwu to push him away. He knows he only needs a few seconds to get rid of him but he doesn’t know that Minhyun was getting ready to land a blow back.

“Thought you were done with all these revenge acts,” Sungwoon pants as he pushes the quinque further down against Minhyun’s tail which was pushing back equally as hard.

“I am. He’s dead,” he hisses as Sungwoon’s quinque gets further and further near his chest. Sungwoon is surprised but doesn’t let it stop the force driving down into the quinque. It pierces Minhyun’s chest and as it starts to dive deeper into the ghoul’s heart and Seongwu can see his tail snaking around Sungwoon’s ankle, quickly pulling him into the air and ripping the quinque from his body. Daniel is trapped in his spot as Minhyun tries to make a getaway, Sungwoon following after him down the alley until they were out of view.

He was careful to approach the red head who was physically shaken. He wanted to get a good look at him but he was shielding his eyes. Seongwu approached closer and closer until he was kneeled down on the concrete in front of him.

“I’m not going to harm you,” he tells him, not knowing how he could reassure the ghoul without frightening him. Daniel was shaking as he removed his face from his hands, cheeks wet with red tears and blazing ghoul eyes.

“You’re not?” his voice is broken and his wounds were healing but Seongwu couldn’t figure what on earth he had come across. He reaches for the ghouls cheek, partly out of curiosity and partly because of the large shard of glass wedging itself out of his cheekbone. He’d just touched the shard when the ghouls hand wraps around his wrist with a bone crunching grip. He releases his fingertips from the glass and watches as the ghoul views his mannerisms, figuring out what it was he was going to do.

“Let me help,” Seongwu whispers, trying to soothe the ghoul’s fear. His grip release but only slightly enough so that he can guide Seongwu in removing the shard. He succeeds in pulling it free, and Daniel’s eyes start returning to normal, the inhuman grips around his wrist releasing at the same time. Seongwu can’t help but be entranced by the depth of the ghouls naturally brown eyes, and the small freckle under his bottom eye line. He was stunning and Seongwu couldn’t look away. That is until his eyes suddenly turn back to their ghoulish form and he sees Sungwoon darting over to them through the air. Seongwu turns with his own quinque out, guarding the blow Sungwoon was going to inflict.

“Let him go,” he struggles through gritted teeth. Sungwoon was putting all of his might into trying to land the blow but Seongwu couldn’t let him, not with the feeling he was receiving from the lone ghoul.

“And let him get away too? Not a chance,” Sungwoon grunts, attempting to hit his partner out of the way. Daniel was pressing himself further against concrete, unsure on whether or not to land a blow himself but Seongwu had a hold of his arm in order to show him to resist the feeling.

“Hyung please, he could have killed me but he hasn’t. Not even tried anything,” Seongwu reasons. He uses his quinque to twirl Sungwoon’s around and turn it on himself, able to pull it free from his grasp. Infuriated, Sungwoon spits on the concrete, glaring at the red head against the concrete.

“If I see you with that fox again, you are dead meat.”

Daniel nods, scurrying away down the alley after pulling himself free from Seongwu’s grasp. Seongwu turns to face him one last time, and all he can feel is the fear in the air. He feels sick to his stomach from it while Sungwoon felt nothing. Was it just his empathy or was it something more? Had he stumbled across a truly new ghoul? He watched as he scurried down the alley, glancing back at Seongwu.

He felt more than just sick.

He felt sad; guilty; a mutual feeling that they don’t belong.

 

♘

 

 

He had too much strength. He had too much rage, and most of all he had too much hunger rumbling in his throat and it felt revolting. It had been weeks since Minhyun had taken him in, feeding him leftovers of his kills. He’d refused most days but on other he couldn’t resist and rabidly gave into the monster that was a part of him now. When they left the house that morning Daniel didn’t know Minhyun was taking him to make a kill after Daniel had told him how much pain he was in.

Minhyun held the passed-out human in his hands, telling Daniel to just give in and that it was a way of his life now. Daniel had shaken his head, “no.”

“You won’t be that strong if you keep this up. You’ll be an easy picking for the ghoul eaters,” Minhyun argues, his tail slowly emerging from the pent-up anger. Daniel can understand him getting angry but he doesn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell him that this is what they were going to be doing. But he soon realises that is because he wouldn’t have agreed to go in the first place if he had known.

He collapses to the ground when Minhyun brings the mortal closer to him, covering his mouth and eyes with the palms of his hand. His throat is constricting from the pain of his hunger but he won’t let himself feed like this.

Not like this.

“If you’re in so much pain, eat! Eat god damnit!” Minhyun yells, quick to set the stunned mortal on the ground as he tries to coax Daniel from his crouched position.

“Just fucking eat! You’re a ghoul now this is what you have to do!”

Daniel shakes his head. He didn’t want this and he never will, not at the cost of killing someone with his own hands.

“Get up!” Minhyun is getting more and more frustrated with every moment that passes with Daniel on the ground, until he can stand it no more.

“Daniel, eat!” He roars, grabbing Daniel by the shoulder in an attempt to pull him up. Except Daniel’s arms dart upwards, grabbing Minhyun by the shoulders and sending him flying into the distance. Shocked by his own power, he fumbles across the ground, glancing at the glow surrounding his hands. Within seconds Minhyun is racing towards him, landing a foot into his stomach which sends him crashing into the concrete wall behind them.

He thought he was done for. That Minhyun was going to put him out of his misery. Until a strange blonde man was fighting Minhyun – he appeared to be a ghoul himself but was unlike Ahnjong and Minhyun - he was something else entirely. Daniel shakes as he pushes himself against the concrete, unaware of the man’s partner approaching him after Minhyun had flew off and out of the alleyway. The man was approaching him slowly and Daniel couldn’t sense any danger coming from him. Despite that, he kept his face buried in his hands, too scared to meet the eyes of someone who appeared to be able to take his life away as quickly as he had been granted it – not that Daniel thought it would make any difference with what he had to face day in and day out.

“I’m not going to harm you,” the man says, his voice so soft that Daniel had imagined he was singing. He slowly took a look at the man, and he was mysteriously beautiful though terrifying with the same black and red eyes as his own.

“You’re not?” he asks, watching him like a hawk as the man was reaching towards his face. The man had a hold of a piece of glass that Daniel didn’t even know had been wedged in his cheek, but can’t help grabbing onto the man’s wrist out of fear.  As soon as he made contact with his wrist did the man let go, not wanting to step over any of Daniel’s boundaries.

“Let me help,” he whispered and Daniel was distracted by the constellation of moles on his cheek.

 _How unique_.

He slowly guided the man towards the glass so that he could remove with Daniel comfortably able to tell if he were to make a move on him or not. He was feeling a lot less sacred until he saw the man’s partner running up behind them, a long sword like weapon held in his hand and he could feel his eyes burning from the fear.

“Let him go,” he had roared above them, the man in front of him shielding the weapon from getting anywhere near him.

“And let him get away too? Not a chance,” the man grunted, attempting to push his partner out of the way. Daniel was pressing himself further against concrete, unsure on whether or not to land a blow himself but the man had a hold of his arm loosely but still with enough secureness that Daniel got the message to just stay still.

“Hyung please, he could have killed me but he hasn’t. Not even tried anything,” the man reasons. He uses his own weapon that he had produced turn his partner’s around and angled towards him instead. able to pull it free from his grasp. The man spits on the concrete, glaring at him as he trembled against the concrete.

“If I see you with that fox again, you are dead meat.”

Daniel nods, tears brimming again at his eyes and the man that had helped him lets go. He stumbles as he falls backward, running down the opposite end of the alley. He turns back to look at the man and seems his face had fallen solemn. His eyes were low and his face was almost set in stone. Daniel wanted to run towards him, not away from him.

It was the first time he had ironically felt safe in weeks.

 

♘

 

Seongwu couldn’t stop thinking about him. Even a week after the incident he returned to the alley daily, wondering if Daniel would show himself again. But nothing. Not even a glimpse. Sungwoon had been furious with him and had ignored him the entire week but Seongwu knew it was nothing personal. It was more if their bosses had found out then they both would be disciplined but this way Sungwoon can deal with him on his own – even if that is by giving him the silent treatment.

The day had gone by painfully slow and it was near midnight when he was finally allowed to return home. He wasn’t far from his small, box apartment when he felt he was being tailed. He could either assess the feeling now by turning around and facing the person behind him or wait until he got to his doorstep and take on a fight if it were to amount to that on grounds where he felt he had the upper hand.

He chose the latter.

He unlocked his door and thought that the feeling had passed until a breath of air and footsteps were placed behind him, causing him to spin around to face who was there.

Daniel. 

He had his hood up and hands in his pockets, unbelievably awkward or uncomfortable.

“Daniel?” he darted his eyes up to the sound of his own name, and Seongwu assumes that he doesn’t know that he knew it.

“What are you doing here?” Seongwu asks, taking a step out onto the porch to see if anyone he knew was out on the street. He pulls Daniel inside and locks the door behind him, not sure of what the fuck was unfolding right now.

“I wanted to say thank you.”

His voice was deep and he could he was struggling to speak through strained vocal chords.

“You’re welcome, I guess. Are you living in the area?” Seongwu asks. Daniel shakes his head and Seongwu asks him further – “Near the area?”

“I don’t have a home.”

It strikes a nerve in Seongwu and he feels the pain in his eyes as they fight to keep the ghoulish red at bay.

“What about Minhyun?”

“After that day I think it was clear I was no longer welcome,” Daniel tells him, shifting his feet against the floor. Seongwu watches him and hates that the poor man feels so uncomfortable.

“Come with me,” Seongwu says, leading him through his apartment. He points to the couch, “sit there,” with a pointed finger to which he promptly obeys. He goes to the cupboard in search of blankets but can’t find any. He swears he had extra. He goes to his bedroom and rips the fluffy comforter blanket from on top from the duvet covers. He returns with the blanket and a pillow and places it next to Daniel on the couch. He’s confused, and Seongwu can tell that he hasn’t felt a kind gesture or any genuine caring nature in a while. 

“You can stay here tonight. I can’t let you go out there in the cold.” Seongwu tells him observing Daniel as he runs his fingers through the blankets fur. 

“How do you know I’m not here to kill you and I’m just lying to you,” Daniel laughs, but it’s so weak of an attempt at a joke that Seongwu can’t help but laugh back at him.

“Your heartbeat and eyes are telling me something far opposite.” 

Seongwu doesn’t know what to do aside from stand awkwardly, Daniel doing the same except seated on the couch.

“Your name?”

“Hmm?”

“Your name? What is it?”

“Oh! Seongwu,” he exclaims, shocked by his own stupidity. Letting a man he barely knows stay at his house and said man doesn’t even know his name. His mother would not be proud of his lack of judgment – but really it was just his empathetic side unable to resist the urge of caring for someone who desperately needed both somewhere and some _one_.

 

♘

 

“How did you end up with Minhyun anyway?” Seongwu asks him. He was sat on the floor, insisting that Daniel make himself comfortable on the couch. 

“A really awful man experimented with his blood on me to create whatever monster it is I am now,” Daniel chokes out. It’s hard for him to view himself as anything else and it makes a world of difference when Seongwu stands and holds onto his shoulder.

“You’re not a monster,” he tells him, hesitantly linking fingers through Daniels.

“See? No monster would let me hold their hand,” Seongwu winks, and it’s enough to make Daniel grin.

“Stay here as long as you need,” Seongwu tells him, readjusting the blanket onto his lap.

“Thank you. Again, you really don’t need to offer me this.”

“I can’t turn you away. I wouldn’t forgive myself knowing there is nowhere else for you to go,” Seongwu reassured.

“Goodnight Seongwu, and thank you. Really,” Daniel said softly.

“Goodnight Daniel,” he smiled, turning the light off on the wall as he retired to his bedroom. Daniel for once didn’t feel scared in the dark, not while knowing the very man who saved him is saving him once more. This time not by a fox ghoul or his partner, but from himself. He bundled the blanket further up around his neck and basked in the sweet smell of the material. Not only did it smell warm, a mix of fabric freshener and Seongwu’s cologne, but it smelt familiar. It smelt like something Daniel hadn’t in what felt like years; it smelt like home.

  

♘

 

Daniel had been staying there for weeks, getting to know Seongwu more intimately with each day that came and went. He knew all of Seongwu’s favourite foods, movies, what clothes he preferred over others, and everything in between. Seongwu turned out to feel as lonely as Daniel had been and they’d been able to find solace in each other’s company. There was one night in particular where Daniel had begun to think that their connection was something more. He’d been on the couch sleeping as usual, except he was having a nightmare about being trapped back at Ahnjong’s. Seongwu had coaxed him out of his sleep and he was a sweating, frightened mess. He’d held a hand towel to his forehead, wiping the sweat that had profusely collected there, patting his lower back with his free hand. 

“It’s over now. It was all a dream, I’m here.” He would tell Daniel exactly what he needed to hear and more often than not it would make him sob even harder.

“Seongwu it’s fucked up. I never asked for this. Who in their right mind would ask for _this_ ,” he cries, pointing at the black and red eyes that had remerged. Seongwu had embraced him in a hug, and Daniel had clung to him with all his might as he cried and cried. Seongwu had continued to rub his bag, petting his hair, all the comforts of home Daniel had been missing. When they’d pulled away from the embrace Daniel had felt the urge to kiss him and he’s sure Seongwu had felt it too – but it never happened. Instead their gazes fixed on each other’s for a moment until they snapped out of it – both thinking the other wouldn’t receive it well. Despite that, it really felt like Seongwu understood him as he sat with Daniel for hours after his nightmares.

They’d talked about trivial things like why Seongwu was a dove or how often he would feed or what Daniels life was like before he was turned into a ghoul. It was all a blur to Daniel which made him upset from time to time but all Seongwu would do was tell him it was okay and that he was at least still living and that was more than enough. They’d formed a bond unlike any other Daniel had experienced before and it was like the security blanket he had never had. Seongwu was loving and caring in the subtlest of ways whereas Daniel was big with his gestures. Having a coffee piping hot and ready for Seongwu to have upon returning from work, constantly giving him hugs or playfully hitting him when they joked around – they were all Daniel’s way of showing him how much he really appreciated him. It wasn’t every day that you could form such a bond and he wasn’t thinking about letting it go any time soon.

Or ever.

♘

 

 

Seongwu was confused. He didn’t know if it was just his pity or if he truly had that strong of a feeling towards Daniel and he didn’t want to hurt him. Not after everything he learnt the past few weeks. He wasn’t going to be another heartache or burden on Daniel’s shoulders. Except, like anything – it all begins to become too much. Resisting the urge to cuddle him for longer than what would be appropriate and kissing his cheeks was hard enough but it was even harder when Daniel had warmed up to him completely and didn’t hesitate to show he was a fan of skin ship and affection. They’d been on the couch watching the TV when Daniel had rested his head against Seongwu’s neck. It wasn’t a new gesture – Daniel had been doing it quite regularly in fact. Except this time, Seongwu couldn’t ignore the minty breath or cool air his breath was blowing against his sensitive skin. As Daniel became more comfortable his head was at such an angle that his lips rubbed against his neck and that was when Seongwu knew that his feelings were definitely not that of a just friends or worried carer. Seongwu gulped as he let his hand rest against Daniel’s side and he could sense that something was up. He’d turned ever so slightly that Seongwu could dart his chin down and lean in towards Daniels plump lips, pausing as he barely grazes over them. He looks at Daniels eyes, still his human brown and not the ghoulish red and he smiles.

He nods. 

And he leans forward to let their lips finally touch.

Nothing had ever tasted sweeter nor had anything ever felt like such a long time coming, but perhaps it was the tension and unknown that made it feel so much more worth it. Through softness and tenderness of Daniel’s lips could Seongwu feel what his heart was aching for, what Seongwu’s had been too all long.

Not just belonging, but love.

 

♘

 

“Promise me something, will you?” Seongwu blurts out. They were in the kitchen, drinking their coffees when he’d had the thought. Daniel perks his eyes up, giving his boyfriend all of his attention.

“Never stop feeling.”

“That’s it?”

“And never stop living. Even if something bad were to happen, never stop.”

Daniel raises an eyebrow, both concerned and confused as to why Seongwu would bring such a thing up.

“Our lives are so unpredictable that I thought it would be best to say it while it was fresh in my memory…” Seongwu pouted. Daniel walked closer to him, and pulled him in against his side. He kissed his temple as he held his side and he could feel Seongwu melting away against him.

“I promise, okay?” Daniel feels him nods against his chest and feels the hum from his throat vibrate through his body.

“I promise too.”

♘

 

Everything was as usual – perfect. Seongwu had spent the morning off from work with Daniel on the couch cuddling with him under the blanket, finally letting Daniel trace the moles on his cheek. Daniel doesn’t understand how he can’t find them cute when he has a whole planetary resemblance on his own skin.

“You’re out of this world,” Daniel had joked, Seongwu poking his tongue out at him. Daniel was able to steal a kiss, and Seongwu’s ears had turned red – every time without fail. They were interrupted by a knock on the door, though Seongwu wasn’t expecting any visitors. Seongwu leaves Daniel on the couch to open the door and find Sungwoon staring back at him.

“You don’t look very sick,” Sungwoon teases.

“Miraculous recovery I guess. I was coming in later anyway,” Seongwu tells him.

“So, are you going to let me in?” Sungwoon asks. He spots Daniel on the couch but can’t quite make out who it is.

“Company?” he asks, pointing to Daniel on the couch. Seongwu freezes and pulls the door shut further behind him but it’s too late.

“Babe?” Daniel is up and coming to the door and Seongwu doesn’t know what to do. When Sungwoon recognises him, his face becomes cold and he tries to grab at Daniel past the door frame. Daniel jumps backwards behind Seongwu, who holds an arm behind him.

“You’re harbouring a criminal! And he’s calling you _babe_?” Sungwoon growls out. Seongwu has never seen him this angry, and although he isn’t doing anything wrong he can’t help but feel guilty from his outburst.

“He didn’t do anything!” Seongwu yells back.

“He is a criminal by association Seongwu, you know this.”

“Step aside unless you want to be arrested too. Oh wait, I forgot we don’t arrest ghouls we kill them.” Sungwoon tries to push past Seongwu but he stops him from getting further inside for a only a few seconds. Sungwoon pushes him against the door frame and Daniel’s rage can’t be held in.

“Don’t hurt him,” his tone was dark and violent, he wasn’t going to stand for anyone laying a hand on Seongwu.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Sungwoon roars letting his weapon fold out in his hand. Daniel doesn’t know what to do except for dodge Sungwoon’s attacks. He fails a few times, earning gashes across his cheeks and legs, one attack going straight through his middle. He flies through the air while dodging Sungwoon’s aim at his head and he falls against the wall in a heap from the impact. He thinks it’s all over when he sees the tip of the weapon aiming straight towards his face but the pain never comes. When he opens his eyes he sees that in front of him Seongwu had guarded his from the attack and instead taken accidental slashing from Sungwoon’s blade. He wasn’t the strongest of ghouls and the sight of Seongwu unable to get up from the ground was alarming, and Daniel could feel his ears ringing with shock. Sungwoon drops the weapon and tries to shake Seongwu to keep him awake but Daniel is quick to push him out of the way. He holds onto Seongwu, his eyes soft though glowing a dim red he’d never seen before. He coughs and droplets of blood capture themselves in the air and Daniel feels his world collapsing.

“S-Seongwu!”

“Shh,” he hears. Seongwu holds onto Daniels cheek, trying to pull him closer but unable to from the life leaving his body. Daniel leans down, only in time to hear three words he’d never thought he’d hear.

“I love you,” Seongwu croaks, his eyes becoming softer and softer with each pained breath he takes. Daniel kisses his cheek, and wills himself to whisper back, unable to forgive himself if he didn’t say it back in time.

“I love you too Ong Seongwu,” his voice breaks as Seongwu’s finger fall from his cheek, no longer there.

 No longer _here_.

He blocks out Sungwoon’s sobs behind him, blocks out the thundering footsteps getting closer and closer. He lays his fingers across Seongwu’s eyelids, closing them with a swift movement. He sees his tears running red onto the white top beneath him and everything blurs. Through the rage he can only think about two things. One being revenge, but then secondly that revenge would only mean more death and more guilt. Instead he focuses back in on Seongwu in front of him, on the constellation shining for one last time in front of him and settles on one thought.

Even if it meant running for eternity then that would be it. Because Seongwu would want him to live – it was the one thing besides belonging that they both wanted the most. And so, for Seongwu; he would _._

 

_❝there are times when you’ll have to protect something,_

_even at the cost of something else. _❞__

_-_ rize kamishiro, tokyo ghoul

**Author's Note:**

> i have really appreciated the creativity that this prompt has given me and to strengthen parts of my writing that had been weaker before having taken on this prompt. although i had a hard time with certain aspects of it and agonized deeply over posting this i am glad to finally have it out there rather than sitting unfinished. 
> 
> please don't hesitate to leave a kudos or a comment - even if it is just *sobs* it all makes a big difference to see how people take to a writers fic, not to mention raising their inspiration when in a slump!
> 
> links will go here when reveals are over... can you guess me?


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